Fence post spade

ABSTRACT

A spade for an H-beam fence post is made from a steel plate having a flat portion that engages the outside of one flange of the post. A pair of spaced apart tabs at the lower end of the plate extend upwardly from the flat portion so as to form two Ushaped members which fit over the lower end of the post one on each side of the web of the post. A pair of inwardly extending tabs at or near the top of the flat portion extends over the inside of the post flange toward its web. When the post is driven into the ground it carries the spade with it and the top tabs or other means hold the spade against the post.

United States Patent [1 1 111 3,775,924 McClure, Jr. 5 [4s] Dec.4,1973

[ 1 FENCE POST SPADE 1,965,994 7/1934 Summer... ..52 153 [76] Inventor: Robert E. McClure, Jr., 824 Elm Spring Rd Mt. Lebanon Twp" Primary Examiner-Jordan Franklin Allegheny County 15243 Assistant Examiner-Conrad LL. Bel-man [22] Filed: Mar. 26, 1973 1 57 ABSTRACT [21] App1.N0.: 344,982 A spade for an H-beam fence post is made from a steel plate having a flat portion that engages the out- [52] CL szllss 256/47 side of one flange of the post. A pair of spaced apart [5 i 7/22 tabs at the lower end of the plate extend upwardly 581 Field ofSeiinchW l....:.. i 2/1g5 150 151 the as Shaped 52 152 153 154 156, 157, 158 160 6 47 members which fit over the lower end of the post one 25 I on each side of the web of the p A P of inwardly 1 56] References Cited extending tabs at or near the l of the flat Portion UNITED STATES PATENTS When the post is driven into the ground it carriesthe 246,636 9/1881 Powell 52/153 spade with it and the top tabs or other means hold the 606,558 6/1898 Ketchum. 52 154 Spade against the post 1,422,301 7/1922 Parker 52/153 357,314 2/1887 Gough et a1. 52/154 10 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures tends over the inside of the post flange toward its web. 7

PATENTED BEE 4 73 SHEET 1 UF 2 FENCE POST SPADE This invention relates to a spade for a fence post and more particularly to a spade for anchoring an H-beam fencepost to the ground. There are manyways of anchoring fence posts to the ground. One common way is to embed the post in concrete, but this is costly, especially in locations where concrete is not readily available. Other methods include separately driving the post and anchors into the ground and bolting the anchorsto the post or separately driving metal fixtures which expand at oblique angles when embedded in the. ground.

Spades and specially constructed posts have also been proposed, but these are expensive to manufacture and difficult to assemble and/or drive. Carpenter U.S. Pat. No. Re. 9005 dated Dec. 30, 1879; Bayliss U.S. Pat. No. 319,877 dated June 9, 1885; Gough et a1. U.S.Pat. No. 357,314 dated Feb. 8, 1887; Sprague U.S. Pat. No. 1,165,459 dated Dec. 28, 1915; and Harding U.S. Pat. No. 1,399,426 dated Dec. 6, 1921 are illustrative of the prior art.

It is an object of my invention to provide a spade for a standard fence post which is easy and inexpensive to manufacture.

Another object is to provide such a spade which prescuts a minimum of additionalresistance to driving of the post into the ground. i

A further object is to provide such a spade which can be assembled at the fence location without the use of separate fastening means. l

A still further object is to provide such aspade which does not require any change in the method of driving the post.

These and other objects will be more apparent after referring to the following specification and attached drawings, in which: 1

FIG. 1 is an elevation of a post and spade of my invention driven into the ground;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the spade of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is an elevation taken at right angles to FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 1, showing a second embodiment of my invention;

FIG. 5 is an elevation taken at right angles to FIG. 4; FIG. 6 is a view taken on line VIVI of FIG. 4; and FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a third embodiment o my invention.

Referring more particularly to FIGS. 1 to 3 of the drawings, reference numeral 2 indicates an I-I-beam fence post having two flanges or sides 4 connected by a web 6. Spade 8 of my invention, which is preferably formed from a single steel plate, has a flat portion 10 which bears againstone of the flanges 4. It will be seen that the bottom of the flat portion 10 has a width approximately the same as the flange 4 with its longitudinal edges tapering upwardly and outwardly. A pair of spaced apart tabs 12 are provided at the bottom of the spade and extend upwardly one on each side of the web 6 so as to form two U-shaped members with their open ends upwardly. The bottom of post 2 is received in the U-shaped members and bears against the bottom thereof. A pair of inwardly extending tabs 14 are provided at the upper end of flat portion 10 with a space 16 between their ends to receive web 6 when the tabs 14 extend over the inside of web 4.

The spade 8 is preferably made byblanking out a flat form from about 12 gauge steel, cutting a bottomnotch therein and making slits therein for thetop tabs. The

upper and lower tabs are then formed with a mechani cal press die.

To drive a post the spade 8 isfirst assembled on post 2 by slipping'the lower end of one of the post flanges through the upper tabs 14 and sliding the postdownwardly until the same post flange seats in the bottom of the .U-shaped members as shown. The post is then driven in the usual member driving the spade ,withit. The tabs 14 act as holding means to prevent the spade from moving outwardly from the post- The embodiment shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 isthe same as that of FIG. .1 except that the tabs 14 are replaced by means of tabs 20 which are punched out from the flat plateportion 10 below the top thereof.

The driving operation is the same as that of the first embodiment.

The third embodiment shown in FIG. 7 is also the same as that of the first and second embodiments except for the top holding means. In this embodiment the upper tabs are eliminated and a plate .22 is provided at the top of flat portion 10. The plate22 may be integral with or welded to flat portion 10 and is providedwith an opening 24 of such size as to receivethe entire post 2. The driving operation is otherwise the same as in the other embodiments.

.While several embodiments of my invention have been shown. and described, it will be apparent that other adaptationsand modifications may be made with out departing from the scope of the followingclaims.

I claim:

l. A spade for a fence posthavinga side and a web extending therefrom intermediate its side edgeswhich comprises a generally flatplate portion adapted to engage the outside of saidpost side, a pair of spaced apart tabs at the lower endofsaid flat plate portion extending upwardly generallyparallel to the flat plateportion and spaced aparta sutficient distance to receive said web, saidtabs forming with saidflat plate portion two, U- shaped members :withtheiropen ends upwardly, said U-shaped members being adapted to receive the bottom of said post, and holding means extendingfrom an upper part of said flat plate portion adapted to be connected to said post.

2. A spade according to claim 1 in which the parts thereof form a single steelplate.

3. A spade according to claim 2 in which the bottom of said plate portion has a width approximately the same as said post side and said flat plate portion tapers upwardly and outwardly from each side of its bottom.

4.A spade according to claim 3 in which said holding means includes a pair of inwardly extending tabsat the top of said flat portion extending from said flat portion with a space between their ends, said tabs being adapted to extend over the inside of said post.

i 5. A spade according to claim 3 in which said. holding means includes a pair of inwardlyextending tabs below the top of said flat portion formed from a portion of said flat portion and extending from said flat portion with a space between their ends, said .tabs being adapted to extend over the inside of said post.

6. The combination of a fencepost having a side and a web extending therefrom intermediate its side edges, and a spade, said spade .comprising a generally flat plate portion bearing against the outside of said post side, a pair of spaced apart tabs at thelower end of said plate extending upwardly generally parallel to the flat plate portion and forming with said flat plate portion having a minimum width at the bottom thereof.

9. The combination of claim 8 in which said holding means includes a pair of inwardly extending tabs at the top of said flat portion extending from said flat portion over the inside of said post side.

10. The combination of claim 8 in which said holding means includes a pair of inwardly extending tabs below the top of said flat portion extending from said flat portion over the inside of said post side. 

1. A spade for a fence post having a side and a web extending therefrom intermediate its side edges which comprises a generally flat plate portion adapted to engage the outside of said post side, a pair of spaced apart tabs at the lower end of said flat plate portion extending upwardly generally parallel to the flat plate portion and spaced apart a sufficient distance to receive said web, said tabs forming with said flat plate portion two Ushaped members with their open ends upwardly, said U-shaped members being adapted to receive the bottom of said post, and holding means extending from an upper part of said flat plate portion adapted to be connected to said post.
 2. A spade according to claim 1 in which the parts thereof form a single steel plate.
 3. A spade according to claim 2 in which the bottom of said plate portion has a width approximately the same as said post side and said flat plate portion tapers upwardly and outwardly from each side of its bottom.
 4. A spade according to claim 3 in which said holding means includes a pair of inwardly extending tabs at the top of said flat portion extending from said flat portion with a space between their ends, said tabs being adapted to extend over the inside of said post.
 5. A spade according to claim 3 in which said holding means includes a pair of inwardly extending tabs below the top of said flat portion formed from a portion of said flat portion and extending from said flat portion with a space between their ends, said tabs being adapted to extend over the inside of said post.
 6. The combination of a fence post having a side and a web extending therefrom intermediate its side edges, and a spade, said spade comprising a generally flat plate portion bearing against the outside of said post side, a pair of spaced apart tabs at the lower end of said plate extending upwardly generally parallel to the flat plate portion and forming with said flat plate portion two U-shaped members with their open ends upwardly, said U-shaped members receivinG the bottom end of said post side to prevent downward movement of said post with respect to said spade, and holding means extending from an upper part of said flat portion around at least a portion of said post to hold said spade against the outside of said post side.
 7. The combination of claim 6 in which said spade is a single steel plate.
 8. The combination of claim 7 in which said spade has tapered longitudinal vertical edges with said spade having a minimum width at the bottom thereof.
 9. The combination of claim 8 in which said holding means includes a pair of inwardly extending tabs at the top of said flat portion extending from said flat portion over the inside of said post side.
 10. The combination of claim 8 in which said holding means includes a pair of inwardly extending tabs below the top of said flat portion extending from said flat portion over the inside of said post side. 